


A Story of Three: 3 Books, 3 Amplifiers, 3 Love Interests

by TheEntireFangirl



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Essays, Gen, Nonfiction, Ruin and Rising, Siege and Storm - Freeform, alina starkov - Freeform, also this is probably biased because I'm in love with nikolai lantsov but, shadow and bone - Freeform, spoiler alert for entire grisha trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28443399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEntireFangirl/pseuds/TheEntireFangirl
Summary: Why is the Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo generally considered worse than Six of Crows? Why is Alina Starkov written off as any basic white girl protagonist, no different than Tris from Divergent or Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars? What is the brilliance of Leigh Bardugo's structure in relationship to the three main love interests of the main character, the three amplifiers we see throughout the series, and the three portions of Alina's character arc?In this essay that I'm writing sheerly out of anger, I will discuss all of this and more.
Relationships: Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, Nikolai Lantsov/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	A Story of Three: 3 Books, 3 Amplifiers, 3 Love Interests

Leigh Bardugo is a prolific fantasy author. She has brought young adult into far more of a legitimate stance in literature, creating a world for people to explore through epic journeys, heists, fairy tales, and the stories of saints and martyrs. Any weathered Grisha fan can tell you that this all started with the novel Shadow and Bone--her first novel, starring a Ravkan girl named Alina Starkov who becomes a saint through no fault of her own. Despite the fact that this is where it started, the Grisha trilogy is not the most popular book in the Grishaverse--the Six of Crows duology, a spin-off, is much more popular.

Why? Well, for one thing, Six of Crows does much more to challenge fantasy as a genre. Instead of writing about kings and queens, it tells the story of thugs and thieves. The characters are much more subversive in nature, including a diverse cast with characters of color, queer characters, and even characters who some may disagree with on a fundamental moral level. It challenges the reader and what they think they know about the world much more--and because of this, it's attracted more attention.

This isn't inherently a bad thing--this author would even argue that it's a _good_ thing that people are enjoying fiction which challenges their worldview more. However, the author takes offense when people write off the Grisha trilogy as bland YA fantasy, similar in nature to other novels with European based worldbuilding. These are the same people who criticize Alina Starkov as a bland protagonist with little to no agency or personality and say that the love triangle--which isn't really any sort of triangle given that there are three distinct love interests--is uninteresting or unnecessary.

The concept that Alina has no agency or personality is, in and of itself, a paradoxical statement. It's in fact Alina's lack of agency in the beginning of the series that is her hamartia--her fatal flaw. Her lack of agency is what causes the larger conflicts of the first book--her being enslaved, given a collar she didn't want, given a position as the Sun Summoner that she never signed up for. She's receptive to the people around her, optimistic the world can be better, but incredibly agreeable in an attempt to avoid conflict.

Over the books, her agency has three phases, which I will refer to in reference to the love interest she is most responsive to in that particular book: First the Darkling, then the privateer prince Nikolai Lantsov, and finally her childhood best friend and long-time crush, Malyen Oretsev.

**The Darkling**

Though for the majority of the series, the Darkling is the antagonist, even if by the end he does receive some sympathy for what he went through as a child. But throughout the majority of Shadow and Bone, he's still being portrayed as the good guy--the descendent of the Black Heretic who is trying to undo the damage of the Shadow Fold. This is important to remember when considering what he represents to Alina as a love interest--to her, he represents the easy path, the agreeable one. Even once she turns against him, there's a temptation to follow him at all times because it would make so many of her problems disappear immediately. United with him, her life would be easy.

Ignoring the fact that there's a compulsory draft for all Grisha at the beginning of Shadow and Bone, this is why she goes with the Darkling--because it's _easy_. She doesn't have to do the work of being anything, of going against the grain; following him is simple, and for someone as conflict averse as her, simple is all she wants.

Morozova's stag would similarly represent the Darkling, and the simplicity of his life. But her act not to kill the stag is her first major act of rebellion--the first point within the book where she truly demonstrates her agency.

**Nikolai Lantsov**

Next, as we begin to read Siege and Storm, we get to Nikolai Lantsov, the privateer prince. Though he's masquerading as the morally gray Sturmhond when we first meet him, he comes to represent to Alina another choice: One that may not necessarily be easy, but it will allow her an easy life once the war is over, and it will help to unify Ravka and assert the power of the monarchy and overall reestablish her country as a legitimate force in global politics instead of a war-torn nation of Grisha lovers (which, as a reminder, is largely controversial in the political landscape).

To Alina, choosing Nikolai would be the morally upright choice, but not one that she truly wants. The book is also dedicated to the Sea Whip, which represents the escape of the Darkling--the power of that amplifier cannot be turned against her will. But, in the end, it still represents war, not peace--it is still dead, which is exactly what she didn't want for the stag and what she doesn't want for the Firebird.

Perhaps Nikolai Lantsov would be a better choice for her romantically than the Darkling--but still not the choice for her. And by choosing not to marry Nikolai, she is still choosing defiance--agency.

**Malyen Oretsev**

The final book, the final amplifier, and the final love interest. This is the final portion of her arc--the one where Alina chooses herself over everything else in her final act of defiance. She chooses to marry for love, not political ideology.

Mal represents everything she's ever wanted but has been too afraid to chase after. He represents a world where she is not torn between different political parties, where she is allowed to exist without being pushed around. He represents peace--he represents the Firebird (a bit too literally at times); he represents the amplifier that she will not kill because she is not going to choose violence.

Though Mal is wildly unpopular within the fandom, he was the only logical choice for her to end up with when it comes to how to close off her arc in a satisfying way. In fact, the ending of the plot was brilliant--everything came full circle to how her life was since she was a kid, only now she has agency. Instead of being a lost child with no parents, she now adopts a young boy. Instead of being an orphan pushed around by Ana Kuya, she now runs the very orphanage she grew up at. She is not a saint anymore because she never wanted that title in the first place. She is exactly what she always wanted to be but never had the courage for: Happy and free.

The Grisha trilogy, for all of its shortcomings, is a beautiful story of a girl learning to choose herself in spite of everyone telling her to pick something different. To see it constantly compared to Six of Crows and ridiculed for what it is not is inherently unfair when they are different books on all levels. Though it may skew closer to what a typical young adult fantasy book looks like, it is not less for that--and every choice which may seem like a bad one, from the choice to have the protagonist lack agency to giving her three distinct love interests--is a carefully calculated one made for the sake of plot. Criticizing it for the very thing that makes it work is no different than criticizing sugar for being too sweet or plants for being too green.

**Author's Note:**

> That was such an icky thing to write but I wanted to make it a Proper essay so I had to say things like "this author." Also I'm so incredibly anti M*l it's not even funny. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


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